ESA Claim Closed due to non attendance of an appointment i knew nothing about

hm902

I was on ESA due to various health reasons, most recently losing the sight in one eye which will take several months for my cognitive functions to adjust to.
I have today received a letter saying they are closing my claim based on the events below.

I would be grateful, if anyone could advise me of any action that can be taken on the below events.



Chronology of closure of ESA claim:

6th Nov: Letter received (Dated mid October) advising me of appointment for 8th November: I called ATOS to change due to hospital appointment.
New appoint arranged for 22nd November

22nd Nov: Letter received informing me appointment was cancelled and new appointment would be issued in due course.

18th Dec: phone call from Cosham Benefits Office demanding a reason I didn’t attend appointment on 17th Dec.
I explained That I had not been informed.
Later that day I received a voicemail (timed around 2:30) saying that this was fine and a new appointment would be issued.

19th Dec: I received a phone call saying that my reason would not be allowed. “Not knowing about an appointment is not a good enough reason to not attend”
I was informed that the cancellation letter for the 22nd November had a new appointment date on it, I disputed this fact and was told that the ATOS system clearly shows that an appointment date was issued on the letter.
I was then hung up on by the manager I was speaking to.

I attempted to ring back but only got through to the call centre, who raised a complaint on my behalf.

20th Dec: Copy of ATOS letter sent to Cosham Benefit Centre

24th Dec: phone call from Cosham Benefit centre, manager apologised for hanging up on me and advised that my letter had not yet been received but as soon as it had someone would call me to let me know a decision. As yet I have not received this phone call.

6th Jan: Letter dated 31st December along with a P45, Stating that I will no longer be paid ESA due to my failure to attend the ATOS assessment on 16th December.
I got through to the call centre in Grimsby, who confirmed that my copy of the ATOS letter had been received, and would get local benefits office to inform why they've come to this decision

rogerblack

Firstly - complaints on the phone are not the same as an official complaint.
This must be made in writing, usually within a month of the decision in question.
You can make a late appeal within 13 months though.

Secondly - the 6th Jan letter - does it mention anything about 'mandatory reconsideration'.

Did the person actually state 'not knowing is not an excuse' - if so I would raise a formal complaint about their handling of the call.
This is either a flat-out lie, or a person in need of remedial training.

Secondly - make a complaint to ATOS - about the fact that they reported an incorrect fact to the DWP.
http://www.atoshealthcare.com/claimants/our_customer_charter

On a general point.
DWP does not normally respond to letters quickly.
It is not unusual for it to take some time - especially over christmas - it would not surprise me at all that it will take at the very minimum another week to look at your letter of the 20th.
It sounds like this has largely been running on automatic - with little intervention of the DWP staff.

It sounds likely the timeline runs something like this.

ATOS report to the DWP you've missed an appointment on the 17th.
Later, you get a phone call asking why. You explain, and this is agreed by the person on the line as reasonable.
Someone else (perhaps a supervising decision-maker) has then checked over the reason, and asked ATOS about your case - and they've said that there was an appointment made on the letter.
The later call is to inform you of this.
This decision was then processed in the normal way - resulting in the letter of the 31st.

Your letter has not as yet been processed in all likelyhood.

hm902

Yes, the letter received today mentions mandatory reconsideration, which I will be asking for when they return my call.

And yes, they actually stated 'not knowing is not an excuse' during one of the calls (this was a manager)

I'm assuming the address for a formal complaint, will be on the letter?

rogerblack

https://www.gov.uk/complain-jobcentre-plus .
In short - write a _separate_ letter making the complaint that in using the phrase 'not knowing is not an excuse' the official misrepresented the law.

Not knowing is 'good cause' for missing an appointment.
The usual issue is that non-reciept of post must be judged on the balance of probabilities - the claimant could be lying, so they are asked to take into account stuff like if it's the first missing letter.

In your case, the comment would seem to fundamentally undermine the persons case that you should have known as it was on the letter.
Make it very clear this is a complaint about this particular official - not an appeal.


I would also consider contacting ATOS - and asking for a copy of all the information they hold on you.
0800 2888 777 under the data protection act.
A 'subject access request' - you may have to pay up to 10 pounds for this.

themull1

Send the letter via your MP guaranteed to get an urgent response.

mojod

I had a similar problem with an appointment that I knew nothing about last year.
Tried phoning, but got no-where.

Emailed my local MP who replied same day saying "team looking into it".

Another reply next morning saying "Think I've sorted it - check your bank, but if any more problems, here's my mobile number!"

Sure enough, money was there and problem solved.

Much as we moan about politicians, they ain't all bad!